The Chosen Ones

CHAPTER SEVEN

Casey unpacked her clothes. She felt bad she hadn't told Matt her plan to burn her house to the ground. She honestly didn't think she could go through with it at first. Then, seeing the scene in the living room, where her family was killed, put her over the edge. She was never going back there, and she didn't want anyone else living there either. It was her house that she grew up in with her family, nobody else deserved to live there.

Matt had been more welcoming than she thought he would be. He was great actually, that's why she felt bad putting him in that spot. She hoped he could forgive her. Casey found herself having a hard time shaking that feeling she had when she was around him. That warm feeling she got when he grabbed her hand last night.

Casey put the two pictures of her family in the upper right corner of the mirror before putting the rest of her clothes away. She couldn't believe Matt had given her a whole room. In the two days it took her to get to his house all she kept envisioning was getting treated like shit. Casey had judged Matt before meeting him. She didn't deserve what happened to her, but neither did Matt. His young wife and parents were killed when he was practically the age she was now.

She figured if he did somehow believe her that he would make her sleep on the floor or an uncomfortable couch, or something like that. This would teach her not to judge people.
Matt's house was amazing. She wondered how he afforded it. If she wasn't so intent on sticking to her unwritten rule of not getting to know anybody, she would ask. But that would mean she was showing interest. She told herself she wouldn't do that. Get revenge, and leave. That was the plan.

At that moment Tyler came running in and dove onto the bed, laughing as he rolled around on the comforter. He was trying hard to get her attention, but she wasn't budging. He started in with his questions almost immediately.

"How old are you?"
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Are you in school?"
"What's your favorite food?"

Casey showed restraint. She was annoyed with the little boy but she wasn't showing it. Whether it was his fault or not, this boy was the reason her family was killed. She couldn't help but hold a little resentment towards him. Casey just folded and refolded her clothes, pretending he wasn't there. This little guy was bait. If these killers were coming for him then this is where she would be. She couldn't think of him any other way than that.

Matt was in his basement as his friends filed in, it was their hangout spot. He had a big screen television down there, a dart board, bubble hockey, pin ball machine, pool table, and a bar.
Gab hopped up and sat on the pool table.
"Where's your new friend?" She asked Matt.
"Upstairs with Tyler. He won't leave her alone." He replied.

"How she taking that?" Shannon asked with a smile. She was enjoying the thought of Tyler annoying Casey.
"She hasn't kicked him out yet." Matt replied, seeing that as a win.
Shannon was impressed. She knew how relentless the four year old could be.

Her own five year old sister Sierra annoyed the crap out of her sometimes. Sierra had been a surprise pregnancy for her parents. Shannon was seventeen when they told her they were pregnant, totally out of the blue. At first she had cringed at the thought of her parents having another child so late in life, but they had Shannon when they were so young and had struggled as young parents. So they were thrilled by the surprise pregnancy and a chance to do it all over again. This made Shannon see the pregnancy in a different light, and she came to love being a big sister.

As much as she loved her baby sister though, Tyler loved her more. The two kids were inseparable. Matt would bring Tyler over for a sleepover one weekend and the next Sierra was sleeping at Matt's. If Shannon's dad told her they were going to end up together one more time she would scream.